Iran Travelogue # 20 – Isfahan – The Best Desserts in the World?

“Isfahan is located on the main north–south and east–west routes crossing Iran, and was once one of the largest cities in the world.

It flourished from 1050 to 1722, particularly in the 16th century under the Safavid dynasty, when it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. Even today, the city retains much of its past glory.

It is famous for its Persian–Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets.”

But beside the spectacular views in was in Isfahan that we stopped at the Kowsar Hotel for an afternoon drink—specifically, Ab talabi or melon juice. “Ab” means “water” and “talabi”, “melon.”

Delicious!

In fact, having an ab talabi or an ice cream became a daily treat for us—if not in the afternoon, then after dinner at night.

Of course, alcohol is forbidden in Iran, something we knew before we went; so that wasn’t a surprise. Nonetheless, there were bars in all the hotels, usually serving non-alcoholic beer and a variety of juices and drinks/special desserts with ice cream.

We decided that Iran has some of the best ice cream in the world. At least as good as any gelato we had in Italy. That was a huge surprise! In one shop, we chose from 62 flavors—a daunting prospect which we narrowed down to 4, two for each of us.